Paper holder for sheets arranged in a pile



M. KISTER 2,823,0 2

PAPER HOLDER FOR SHEETS ARRANGED IN A FILE Feb. .11, 1958 Filed Mairch 15, 1955 United States Patent- PAPER HOLDER FOR SHEETS ARRANGED ]N A PILE Michel Kister, Geneva, Switzerland Application March 15, 1955, Serial No. 494,511

Claims priority, application Switzerland March 17, 1954 1 Claim. (Cl. 2.7161) This invention concerns a paper holder for sheets arranged in a pile, such holder being of the type having marginal abutments or retaining elements intended to retain the pile of sheets in the paper holder without, however, preventing the one by one removal of the sheets therefrom by a suction holding or other withdrawal device.

-With very thin sheets of paper, particularly of air mail type, it may happen that the elfect of this suction holding device is felt through the first sheet and that, unless the retaining elements exert a pronounced grip on the sheets, several sheets may be drawn up simultaneously.

In order to avoid this drawback it has been proposed before to provide stripper members which are equipped with serrated fingers. This arrangement proved, however, inoperative if the sheets are very thin and of little resistance, so that several sheets may be removed at the same time. This is the reason why it has been proposed also to use other devices which function as retaining means for the excessive sheets.

This arrangement thus does not give the expected results since the sheets are thin and soft and the known devices are insufficient to separate two adjacent sheets which adhere to each other due to atmospheric pressure. In effect they retain the different sheets together and do not bring about a proper seperation thereof.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a paper holder for sheets arranged in a pile, which comprises pointed members as retaining elements, the latter bringing about a novel way for separation of the sheets. This is achieved by permit-ting air access between the sheets.

A drawback appears in the present arrangement which resides in the multiplicity of retaining elements which, however, appears to be a small disadvantage compared with the simultaneous removal of several sheets. In order to obviate this inconvenience, it is possible to arrange the retaining elements in such manner that the novel tear is not extensive compared with the tears brought about by the main points on which the pile of sheets rest.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide means for adjusting the amount that at least some of the said pointed members project into the paper holder. With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of part of a paper holder according to the present invention along the lines 11 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of the paper holder shown in Fig. 1 along the lines 22 of Figure 3;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the paper holder shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 4 and 5 show a modification of the pointed members of Figs. 1 to 3; and

Fig. 6 shows a further modification of the pointed members of Figs. 1 to 3.

The paper holder partially shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is formed by a. housing including four metal angle irons such as that shown at 1' located parallel to each other in such a way that each constitutes a guide for one of the four corners of a pile of sheets shown diagrammatically at 2. These angle irons 1 are maintained at the desired distance apart by struts such as those shown at 3 and 4 which connect them in pairs.

The pile of sheets 2 rests on retaining elements 5 which are provided on the two opposite struts 4. Each of these retaining elements 5 comprises a support 6, fixed to the corresponding strut 4 by a screw 10 and upon which a block 7 is-adjustably mounted. The block 7 is provided with a pair of superimposed needles 8 and 9 which are parallel and slightly inclined to the plane of the sheets (making an angle of about 20 with respect to the sheets), and the pointed ends of which are directed upwards and towards the inside of the paper holder.

As shown in the drawings, the block 7 is attached by rivets 11 to the free end of a flexible or elastic strip 12, the upper end of which is fixed to the support 6 by means of a screw 13, and a wedge 14 being interposed between the strip 12 and the support 6. The block 7 is partially located in-a recess 15 made in the support 6 and a knob 16 mounted on a screw 17 integral with the support 6 allows the adjustment of the amount of projection of the needles 8 and 9 into the interior of the paper holder.

A spring 18 located between the support 6 and the strip 12 maintains the latter against the knob 16. The paper holder may comprise, for example, four retaining elements, two being located on each of the struts 4.

The upper needles 8 comprise the main pointed members which retain the pile of sheets 2 in the paper holder, the pile of sheets tending to descend either under the action of its own weight or under the combined action of the latter and of advancing means (not shown) which are provided to make it advance in the paper holder. Although retained by the main pointed members or needles 8 which bear upon its edges, the lowest sheet of the pile can easily be extracted from the paper holder by a suction holding device comprising, for example and as shown diagrammatically at 19, a suction cup mounted on a mobile support.

In the course of its extraction, the lowest sheet slides on the needles 8 which tear it slightly on its edge, and then passes on to the needles 9 which do not grip it sufiiciently to retain it.

During passage of the second needles 9 the sheets tear again slightly at their marginal portion in extension of the first tears, in view of the fact that the needles 8 and 9 are vertically aligned. The removal of the sheets is obtained easily since suction devices are provided at each side of the needles and the latter carry the corresponding portion of the sheets.

If several sheets are removed simultaneously below the first needles 8, the second sheet or the other sheets which are no more subjected to the pressure of the pile of sheets, rest on the needles 9. The tears in the first sheet permit also the feeding of air between the two lowermost sheets which are then separated more easily.

It is quite apparent that the needles 8 and 9 do not operate in the same manner, in spite of the fact that they are of the same form, because the conditions under which they engage the sheets are not the same. Several sheets may be removed simultaneously by means of the first needles because the sheets are pressed toward each other and subjected to the proper weight of the pile of sheets. The first sheet is then held by the second needles 9 and the following sheets which are practically free are not torn and rest on the second needles 9.

It can be verified experimentally that this double arrangement of the pointed members allows a regular oneby-one distribution of the sheets to be obtained, even if the characteristics of the latter, e. g. the weight, the thickness and porosity, are very variable.

Such marginal abutments or retaining elements may equally advantageously be used in paper holders disposed in other positions in which the pile of sheets is pressed against the main pointed members by advancing means provided for this purpose.

In one modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the pointed members are no longer comprised of needles but of strips 21 each of which has a sharp upper surface 22 terminated by an upwardly turned point 23 which is intended to stick into the sheet.

In a second modification shown in Fig. 6, and which is particularly suitable for very thin paper the pointed members are formed by needles but these are disposed horizontally and are bent upwards at their ends to facilitate their penetration into the sheets of paper. In a still further modification, needles, having upwardly bent ends as described in connection with Fig. 6, can be upwardly inclined as in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

It will be apparent that the paper holder may be provided with other marginal abutments or retaining elements (such as elastic strips or abutments or any other form on which the pile of sheets is retained in the paper holder) in addition to having one or more abutments comprising the double pointed members of the present invention.

While I have disclosed several embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claim.

I claim:

A paper holder for dispensing sheets one by one from a pile by means of suction comprising a housing, a plurality of first marginal pointed members carried by said housing and adapted to support said pile of sheets, and a plurality of second pointed members disposed below the said first pointed members and adapted to support sheets removed from said pile in excess of one, the lowermost of said excess sheets being removed only upon receiving a tear, said first and second marginal pointed members comprising needles having turned points engaging the lowermost of said sheets perpendicularly to the plane of the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 770,696 Peters Sept. 20, 1904 789,095 Juengst May 2, 1905 1,804,612 Halvorsen May 12, 1931 1,808,706 Novick June 2, 1931 2,335,064 Kabel Nov. 23, 1943 

